Rubio Mumbai Visit Starts With Trade Deal and Russian Oil Talks
US Secretary of State lands in India just days after Trump waived Russian oil tariffs, as both sides try to wrap up a long-awaited trade agreement.
Rubio – (Special Correspondent/Web Desk) – The Rubio Mumbai visit begins on Tuesday, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in India at a key moment for trade talks between the two countries.
He will spend two days in Mumbai and Jamnagar, a city in western India. During the trip, he plans to meet top government leaders and well-known business figures.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar is on his meeting list. So is Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire chairman of Reliance Industries. His company runs the biggest oil refining complex in the world at Jamnagar.
Hopes are high for a trade breakthrough. In recent days, Rubio and other US officials have said a full trade deal is almost ready. Some observers now believe it could be signed during this visit.
Last Friday, President Donald Trump cleared one big hurdle. He waived tariffs that could have been used to punish India for buying large amounts of Russian crude oil.
Those tariffs come from a law Trump signed in September. It allows his team to charge duties of up to 100% on the five largest buyers of Russian oil. India ranks second on that list, behind China.
Trump’s decision to set aside the main parts of that law has upset lawmakers from both major parties. Many of them want stronger pressure on Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
Rubio said the effort to close the trade deal was one reason for the waiver. He added that the administration is starting a 60-day review to decide whether any new tariffs are needed.
He also pointed out that India has been moving away from Russian oil. Even so, the country still buys millions of barrels every day.
Speaking on Sunday, Rubio said it is hard for any nation to change its energy sources overnight. He also called India an important ally and partner of the United States.
On Monday, he repeated that point to reporters. Every country has its own set of challenges, he said, and geography plays a big part. Some nations simply find it very hard to get energy from other places.
India’s situation shows why. The country imports more than 85% of the crude oil it needs to power its fast-growing economy.
The US message on Russian oil also looks mixed. Washington has pushed India to buy less in the past. But last week, the US signed a deal with Russia to import diesel and bring down fuel prices at home before the midterm elections.
That makes it unclear how high the issue sits on the US foreign policy list today.
Rubio will fly to Mumbai from Samarkand in Uzbekistan. There, he met political and business leaders from Central Asia.
Now all eyes are on India. If the trade deal is finalised, this trip could become a major turning point for ties between the two countries.
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